Dean Ward has created a global business on the back of the surge in demand for touch screen kiosks.

Ward is the co-founder of Liverpool-based Evoke Creative, which can count McDonald’s, JD Sports and Google among its clients.

The game-changing moment for Evoke came in 2015 when it secured a multi-million order from McDonalds that led to 5,000 kiosks – despite only having 15 staff!

What made their story even more incredible was the company’s growth was bootstrapped until 2018 when it received the first of two investments from BGF.

In the podcast, Ward talks about choosing the right investor and the highs and lows of scaling a global business, which included opening a base in the US.

In the second half of the show, Jonathan answers listener questions.

Beth Houghton started her working life travelling the world as a SAP consultant but gave it up for the world of deals.

Today’s she heads up Palatine Private Equity’s Impact Investing Fund and is one of the leading names in all things ESG.

She’s proved that doing the right thing for the environment doesn’t have to bad for business.

One of her most noticeable successes was Anthesis, a sustainability consultancy which Carlyle Group bought for a 6x return on their original investment.

In the week of International Women’s Day, Beth also opens up about what it’s like to be trailblazing female dealmaker.

In the second half of the show, Jonathan answers listener questions.

Andrew Leaitherland is the founder and CEO of tech-enabled law firm arch.law but he’s best known from his time as the CEO of DWF.

Under his leadership, DWF Group grew from 450 people to over 4,300 across 33 offices world-wide and turnover from under £30m to more than £330m.

When he oversaw the 2019 IPO, DWF become the UK’s largest listed law firm – but within a year he’d left in a boardroom shake-up at the start of Covid.

He returned to launch arch.law in 2021 and has doubled revenue every year since and grown staff numbers to 135 in three countries.

In a far-reaching interview Leaitherland tells The Dealmaker Uncut Podcast about his 26 career acquisitions; his decision to go for a listing on the main market; his shock exit from DWF; his return – and why he couldn’t be happier.